Dynasty and Destiny
by akaeve
Summary: Written for an NFA challenge. It follows the Gibbs generations over 160years.


**Laird Jamie Gibbs**

**1st wife died in childbirth (from Erinn) 2nd**** wife from the Kingdom of Fife **

**l**

**Calum Kellie Donald Kate Andrew**

**(married Elizabeth)**

**l **

**Liz Jamie Margaret**

**(married Sarah) **

**l**

**Sarah boy died John Mary**

**(married Rose)**

**l**

**Boy (died polio) Jackson Girl **

**(married ?mother died)**

**l **

**Leroy Jethro **

**(married Shannon 1982, died 28/02/1991)**

**l**

**Kelly (died 28/2/1991)**

**"Ducky, you come from Scotland."**

**"I do, although I would have liked to have lived there a wee bitty longer than I did. I suppose the longest I lived in my native country was the time I spent in Edinburgh. At Medical School. Why do you ask, Jethro"**

**"It's just that recently I have been having this recurring dream." Gibbs now replied looking at Dr Mallard. "It's a memory of an island. A castle. I'm a Lord……."**

**"No, Laird……. Jethro, a Lord is English."**

**"Well whatever……….It's just that I see myself setting out and coming to Canada. I mean I'm American, and I had a dark haired wife and she was pregnant."**

**"Are you Jethro, beginning to ponder your ancestry?" Ducky now asked. **

"Now why would I want to find out, I mean I have no-one who would benefit." Gibbs now answered smiling.

"Ah, but you are curious?"

"Sure, but where will I start? I don't want to ask my father."

"In that case the registers. In Scotland we have Registers House. Use the Internet Jethro."

As Gibbs walked away he wondered if he could. He began to wonder if he should. Hell he had nothing to loose and it could be interesting.

**Chapter 1**

**1849 The Outer Islands of Scotland**

The storm clouds rolled in from the Atlantic. The dark foreboding air suppressing, the evening. The sea crashing on the rocks below his window, frightening the nesting birds into flight. A salty spray filled the room. The Laird of the castle and surrounding land surveyed his own. The castle and land, bought through piracy and corruption, no……through persuasion and compromise.

"Give me your land and daughters, and I will spare you, your miserable lives."

No…… he was a good Laird, he helped the poor. He encouraged. He was the first to suggest ideas, he helped build their fishing boats……….but he had a dark side………

The lamp swayed on the gimbal. He looked and smiled at the ship floundering on the rocks below. Oh yes, the booty would be good tonight…….whisky and maybe some gold. He lifted the glass to his lips and drank, turning he looked at the bed. The wench was lying peacefully sleeping, the sheet drapped over her lower regions. He smiled at the thought of their earlier coupling. She had no idea of his other self. He crossed the room and kissed her shoulder, she moaned slightly. He flung his coat over his and pulled the candle stick side-wards. The secret door opened and the blast of salty air hit his face. He walked into the abyss.

****

His team were ready. The ship, was stranded high on the rocks. He was not a bad man, he had rescued the crew and landed them on a distant beach. The ship was his for the taking……..like the wench. He boarded the ship. You had to realise he had not made the ship flounder, he only assisted in saving the poor souls, he got his cut, and he did hide the goods from the excise men, for his team. The villagers had sent out the lights to the ship. The ships' crew were grateful. The ships that were wrecked were usually owned by scrupulous owners or merchants. He took from them and the crews knew. He was a Maritime Rob Roy….a Scottish Robin Hood. He took from the rich and enriched the lives of the poor. Oh yes L.……that would be Laird Jamie Gibbs, was a good Laird.

****

He returned to the room cold, and silently undressed and slipped quietly between the sheets. The wench opened her eyes and smiled. He embraced her warm body. As she grew cold, he could feel her warmth, warm him. The fire in his loins would soon warm them both. As he slipped onto her body, she opened her legs and smiled.

****

The morning air was broken with the sound of the Kittiwakes mewing. The late summer sun shone through the drapes. He reached for the wench, only to find the bed empty and cold. As the door open, he sat bolt upright, and reached for his sgian dubh, she stood in the door frame, holding the bowl of warm water, her dark hair falling over her shoulders. He could see the start of the roundness of her belly.

****

His first wife had died in childbirth. She had had, the Celtic red-hair, she had come from Shannon in Erinn. The Irish potato famine, her father thought she would flourish in the islands of Scotland. She hadn't. But this woman, she was strong and dark headed. She came from the East, from the Kingdom, the Kingdom of Fife. Her father Donald MacAllan, was the Laird of Kellie Castle. He had offered her to him, with the blessing of Saint Andrew. His farm land would help with the famine. It hadn't, it had only got worse.

****

He slipped out the bed and crossed over to the woman. He cupped her head in his hands.

"You have been sick again?" he questioned quietly. She nodded. "Kaitlin we need to go to the new world. The clearances and the potato famine have taken their toll. I have already lost someone I loved, I don't want to loose you. Will you be strong enough?"

"My Laird, I will follow you. You are my husband." she had replied.

"You could go and stay with Donald, your father."

"Jamie, I am going to be strong enough. The bairn will have settled down. The spaewife says it is a boy. A strong boy, and that he will flourish in this new land." as Gibbs held her to his heart.

"She also said he would have many brothers and sisters, and he would see you well. She sees a full and prosperous life for us in this new Scotland, this Nova Scotia. Maybe, Jamie, one of our children's, children will be a mariner."

"Come Kaitlin. I have work to do.. Rest." as he led her back to the bed, and kissed her forehead. I need to finalise our passage."

****

They would sail to Glasgow and then on to Cape Breton. He walked down to the harbour and looked out to sea. The Atlantic breakers broke against the wall. He felt the spray on his face. They would soon be away from here. He loved Scotland but he knew in his heart that they could no longer stay. The potato famine had caused many deaths, and the Landowners now wanted to the lands for sheep. So much more prosperous than tenants. His own castle, it needed repairs and again he had been offered a good price. He knew that the future would be in the new world. He had already had word back that all was ready. He just hoped Kaitlin would be fine.

****

The middle of September came quicker than they expected. They sailed to Glasgow. The autumnal air cast a shadow over the land. The sea haar seemed to give a curtain, of sadness. An ending of an era. A way of life.

They stood on the quay, that would be Kaitlin, Jamie and Donald. Yes the bairn had settled down and Kaitlin had a glow around her. The child was growing well in her swollen body. She wrapped the shawl round her shoulders.

"Father, you should come with us. You are not old."

"My dear, I am too old to start again. I have loved you but I know it willnot be long until I see your mother again. Kaitlin do not cry. We know the cycle of life." She nodded and kissed her father farewell.

"Jamie take care of her and my grandchild, I bid you god speed."

"Thank you Donald and take care."

He watched as they boarded the ship.

****

The voyage was uneventful, the twelve days passing quickly. The sea calm for the equinox. They had made good time. Gibbs had helped the crew. He knew what he was going to do in the new land. She watched the stars, telling the child-Donald- their names. They had watched dolphins and whales. The salt air had given her a glow. Her condition causing no problems. She nursed the other women and tended the sick children. He watched and smiled, she would make a good mother.

****

They arrived in Cape Breton. The villagers eager to greet their own back into the bosom of the community. As was the custom, cabins had been made for the arrivals. Not perfect but substantial, enough to see them through the winter, in the spring they could improve. They had been given a cabin overlooking the harbour. In the village there were no Lairds, but a council. They asked Gibbs to join. He had accepted. He gave some of his money, they named a school after him, Saint James.

**Chaper 2**

**1850 - 1873**

The winter of 1849 had been kind. The winter had been like the Scottish ones, they had experienced round the coasts of Scotland. Temperate. Kaitlin had worked her magic round the cabin, Jamie had built a crib. They were ready for the new arrival.

****

She cried, no screamed. She shouted she hated him. She hit his chest. She pushed against him. He tried to calm her.

"Sir, please maybe you should leave" the woman said quietly.

"No he stays" she shouted, "I want him to see………Jamie…….please." she handed him her hand. He took. She squeezed his, he thought the circulation would stop. She gave one last scream and then silence……………..only now to be broken by the cry of a new born.

"Jamie, you have a son." the woman now replied, as she laid the bairn at Kate's breast. Gibbs looked down at the mother and her son, his son. It had been a long night, and his wife was exhausted. Her hair stuck to her skin. The sticky sweat now drying to he face. The pale skin now beginning to colour. He kissed her forehead and left mother and son. He thanked the woman for all she had done.

****

Jamie got a job with the fishing fleet. He mended the nets and repaired the boats. He had the skills of a carpenter and used them well. He had started to build more of the cabin, he had to turn it into a house. That summer had been good, the herring salted and the meat. They would be plenty for the winter. He looked at Katie, she was looking radiant again, it looked like their son would have a playmate.

****

They years rolled by the seasons changing with the times. The new railroad was coming and that new thing called the Telegraph. They said it would speed up communications between the settlements. No the settlements were becoming towns. It was just after his 17th birthday Donald announced that he wanted to leave.

The pull of the gold rush beckoned Donald. The winter had been long. He had tried the mines of Nova Scotia. He hated the claustrophobic effect on his body. Jamie had said go to sea, join the herring fleet. No, he had wanted to do something different

"Mom, the West is opening up. I hear there is gold over in the Rockies, and I have tried the mines. I don't really want to stay here. I mean there is only fishing or the mines."

"Donald," Gibbs had questioned " but gold mining?"

"Pop, it's done in the open. I want to feel the air in my hair and the wind on my face, not the salt. Father I need to do this."

They had agreed. Had they not left Scotland for a better land. Jamie and Kate watched their other children. Calum now 16, Kellie she was 14, Kate 12 and Andrew, he was, the bairn, a late child but much loved, 4yrs old.

They gave their blessing. He said he would sent word, would sent for them or send some money. The rail-road was opening the country.

****

Their other children grew, Kellie married and had a son. Kate had decided she wanted to teach. Calum had followed his father into the fishing industry. The boat yard had grown, they were doing well. It was the summer of 1873, well late August 25th, the Hurricane that came, was described in the papers as follows:-

"a calamitous hurricane swept over Cape Breton Island on August 25, 1873. The storm was unusual at that time in having travelled so far to the east after leaving the tropics. Its destructive power was also extraordinary. Ravages of the storm included 1200 vessels, 500 lives, 900 buildings, and an untold number of bridges, wharves, and dykes. At the height of the storm, gale-force winds were reported at Halifax, Sydney, and Truro. Also noted in the weather records for these stations were observations of an intense thunderstorm and heavy rainfalls of 50 mm or more. The Sydney weather observer remarked that this was the worst gale since 1810."

It had claimed the lives of many that night. She had stood on the harbour wall looking out over the sea, as many other wives did. They were in vane. Jamie was only a week short of his 53rd birthday. Kate didn't survive that winter of '73, pneumonia they said, but others knew. It was a broken heart. Calum was now the head of the Gibbs in Cape Breton.

**Chapter 3**

**Donald 1850-1904**

**1867 - 1904**

Donald made his way to Halifax. He wondered then what. Down to America or up to the Hudson Bay, the Company was always looking for people, and he had the skills as a carpenter and as a mariner. He wondered if he should his father would be proud. July 1st 1868 brought in The Canadian Confederation. Under the agreement, the only two Maritime provinces at the time, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, were promised railway connections to Québec and Ontario. He headed for Ottawa, get a job and take it from there.

****

It had been a hard winter, work was slack and he began to think he should forget the "Bay." The spring of 1868 brought about the first casualty of the new country called Canada. One of the Fathers of Confederation, Thomas D'Arcy McGee, became the first Canadian victim of an assassination. On April 7 1868 McGee, was shot dead. Donald's mind was made up. He headed for Pittsburgh.

****

Some guy by the name of Andrew Carnegie from Scotland, was making things happen. He was an entrepreneur. He had started as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He was going to make Pittsburgh, the place to be. If Donald could get work as a carpenter, but there was always the coal mines although that was the last thing he wanted to do.

As the 1860's moved into the '70's. Pittsburgh was on the up. Money was good . The well to do, were always on the look out for furniture to do up the houses that were getting grander and grander. He had met a girl Elizabeth Brown and they were doing well. He had asked her father if they could marry. He had said he had wanted to see Donald make a go first.

It was the September of 1873 when he got word of Jamie. He wired he would come home. No, his mother had said. No, make something of yourself. His sisters wired to say Kate had died that winter. He never made it back to Cape Breton.

****

Donald married in 1874. They settled in Castle Shannon, a suburb of Pittsburgh. Their son was born the following year. Elizabeth had agreed to let Donald call him Jamie, but it was James on the birth certificate. The years passed and they had two daughters. They were well off by the standards of the early 1900's. They had a nice house and their family had grown up. Jamie had followed his father into the business and was a full partner. It was the winter of 1904 and the first of the horseless carriages were on the go. Jamie had remarked they should get one. It would improve the business. They could get around more. Donald had gone one cold winters day to see. He had chosen, but coming out of the dealership, an automobile had backfired. A horse drawn carriage following the vehicle, had reared. Donald slipped on the icy sidewalk and hit his head on the kerb stone. He was only 54yrs old. Jamie was now the head of the Gibbs family.

**Chapter 4**

**Jamie**

**1875 - 1919**

Jamie had been born into a family that was loving. His father had lost the Scottish twang, but every now and again, when talking to other immigrants, he would come out with the highland twang. Only Donald, was not an immigrant anymore he was 1st generation Canadian, but Jamie he was 1st generation American.

He had, at twenty eight inherited the business. It was successful. The rich were always trying to vie for better wood carvings for their homes. He had married Sarah at the turn of the century, the new millennium, and they had had a son who had died. A daughter was born to them and Donald had been thrilled. Although he longed for a grandson. He never saw John who was born was the year of the great steel strike, but the business still flourished. Immigrants were still arriving at Staten Island, but the Titanic disaster stemmed the flow.

The Great War, as it was to be known as, was looming, across in Europe. No-one ever thought it would affect the United States. But on the 7th May 1915, a German U-boat sunk the RMS Lusitania. It killed 128 American citizens and was instrumental in bringing the United States into the war. Many of Jamies' work force joined up. Although The United States did not declare war on Germany until April 1917.

But it was returning men, who brought with them something more deadly than the German Army could have killed. A flu pandemic. Jamie died the February of 1919.

**Chapter 5**

**John**

**1910 -1944 Omaha Beach**

John was 9, when his father had died. He may have inherited the business, but at 9, had no idea what to do. The family, that would have been Sarah's, had rallied round, but the era of prohibition was looming. Sarah's family were not business men as such. They were entrepreneurs. No chancers. No, had a finger in any pie that was going. Prohibition was going to be the making of them. They came from mid Pennsylvania. Columbia County. They dabbled in the mines. Bought and sold. Did a bit of cattle rustling and horse dealing. Only in the dark ages when things really got out of hand some had been hung. And that had not been by the local Sheriff. No, they had been scoundrels. Elizabeth, Jamies' Grandmother tried to help but she too was not used to modern ways. They struggled on. The steel works had started to make military equipment. That paid better than they could. The end finally came in October 1929, the Wall Street Crash. It wasn't that they, weren't capable. It was their clients. Non-payment. They closed the firm 1931, and moved down to Columbia County. John got a job in the mines. As his Grandfather before him he hated. He met a girl and it happened, the wrong way round. A year later he was a father. They called him Jackson. He then married. She was called Rose. The early years were hard. 1933 , Hitler was rising. He declared himself Ruler of Germany in 1934. The dark clouds were forming over Europe. There was talk of war. John decided to join the army. At least it was a steady job. Rose was safe with her family. 1939 Europe was at war, but it was the events of 7th December 1941, that once again forced America to declare war on Germany. Pearl Harbor.

As the war progressed Jamie was eventually sent to Europe and that fatal battle on a French beach. The code name was, Omaha Beach.

**Chapter 6**

**Jackson**

**(1932 - )**

With his father, John, dead, he was 12years old, now what. The family again rallied round and kept things together. But he was never really satisfied. John had been away a lot and his cousins and uncles had tried to guide. He had been another who, when he left school at 15, went down the mines. He had not enjoyed. He looked about, and thought. The Army. No, the Air Force. The 193d Special Operations Wing. This new unit, had begun life in 1947 as the 148th Fighter Squadron, flying the P-51 Mustangs out of Spaatz Field, Reading. The United States Army Airforce had been disestablished in 1947 by Congress. It was now the Air Force. He lied about his age and started as an aircraft mechanic. He had learnt about machinery and machines in the mines. The P-51's, they were old but serviceable. Boredom was a problem. He painted a picture of Betty Grable on the nose of one of the planes. He had been reprimanded. Something the future younger Gibbs would be often too. 1950 saw the start of the Korean war. He volunteered to go. He had nothing to loose. He had no family. He didn't see action as such. He would like to have but he was not a pilot. He lost friends. It would stay with him for a long long time. He returned a hero. Although he was not really. He married and settled in Cambria County. He went back down the mines. By 1955 the mines were deemed unprofitable. He took the redundancy and he and his family moved to Stillwater. An old mining partner and Air Force buddy, suggested they pulled their monies and buy a store. A son was born 2nd September 1956. He called him Leroy Jethro, after his partner.

**Chapter 7**

**Leroy Jethro**

**(1956 - )**

**1956-1976 **

**The early years**

He had been born into a family that was dysfunctional. His father still fighting the war. No, he was at war with everyone and anyone. Stillwater was a backwater. That small, everyone knew everyone else's business. He hated it. He used to go to the garage and build things. Maybe that's where his love of hand tools came from. He would work away in the garage. High school……..the nearest was Benton, up the rail track Stillwater, a one horse town. He had always been against his father, who came to him with the Winchester. He never touched that one, but he learned to shoot. At school a maverick. Father always said he was a good lad. The Sheriff and other villagers knew him as a delinquent. He was kept back a couple of grades. He excelled at sport. He had been given the chance to train younger pupils football. He could pitch well. That and baseball. After one altercation, the local sheriff had said "Enlist or you'll be on a list for the nearest correction centre." He had thought about it. The Marines. They would become his "Brothers in Arms. " His own brother had died of polo only 3years old . It had affected his parents, his mother in particular. A sister had also died. He was all they had. He remembered his father saying of his mother when she died, "When she died, I know how mad that made you. I know how much you hated me for getting on with my life." He needed to get away. He had applied for the Marines and been accepted.

****

He stood at that station one morning in was there the girl from the store up the road. He had seen her in the window. Dressing it. She had a good butt and leg. He had often wondered if he should have asked her out. She was only 14yrs old. Too young. He had approached her. He had asked if she was waiting for the train. Stupid question. Why be at the station. They had talked. Her name was Shannon. She asked where he was going. Parris Island, for training. Oh. Could she write? Why. Dunno, maybe you might like to get letters. "What's your name", she had asked. He told her. She had told him hers. Yes, he would write. It would be good to receive mail.

**Chapter 8**

**1976-1991**

**The happiness years**

**1976-1982**

MCRD Parris Island in South Carolina. 3months, and then he had the passing out parade. He asked Shannon if she would like to come. She said thank you but her father wouldn't have let her go all that way. Her being a minor. He understood. They wrote. She told him how she was doing at school, and how she had moved to Benton. The high school, she was staying with a friends family. It made sense, you didn't have to travel everyday, and the weekends boring at Stillwater. He went out with girls. He had a good time. His first assignment was as an MP at Camp Lejeune., as a Private, but he wanted to be selected for Sniper training, but you had the be a Lance Corporal first. He worked hard. He was good. What had his father would say one day "Yeah. Let that be a lesson in parenting, tell a kid he can't have a rifle, he grows up to be a sniper." Oh Gibbs had been good. He became Private 1st Class. He was on the way up.

He enjoyed his time at Camp LeJeune. He had learnt how to interrogate and he decided to learn French. He thought of Shannon's rules and how he could make his own to suit.

_Rule 1: Never let suspects stay together. _

He had learnt this one from his interrogation training. He had watched as the two suspects conversed in signs. He had only watched in amazement. He taught himself.

_Rule 2: Always wear gloves at a crime scene. _

Oh yes, this one was one he would never forget. That one day, when he had turned up at the scene.

"Private" the Corporal had shouted throwing him a pair, "Gloves. You wanna end up, the one on the charge for this crime." He had shook his head.

"Private the Corporal shouted.

"NO, SIR." he was beginning to learn discipline

_Rule 3: Don't believe what you're told. Double check. _

This one, when he had again fallen for his own mistake. It had almost cost him dearly. No, be more careful.

He became that Lance Corporal and was selected for sniper training. He had excelled. He was on his way to his first medal, the "Marine Corps Good Conduct Medal."

****

He wrote to Shannon. They had arranged to meet in Washington. He had to go the College. For training.

"Training for what?" she had asked

"Funeral escort for Marines and dignitaries. Ceremonial honour guard for state functions. Security Forces for Camp David and the White House. Parades."

"Parades?" Shannon had laughed can't see you being bossed about.

"You know the Friday Evening Parade, the Tuesday Sunset Parade at the Iwo Jima Memorial. Military correspondence courses for Marines, I might have to write that letter to the family one day. Training to maintain Military Occupational Specialty

and proficiency and emergency preparedness. Come and see me in Uniform" he had said.

He was there a year. He did a tour at Camp David. He returned a Corporal to Camp Lejuene. But during his time in Washington he had seen Shannon grow and mature. He still dated other women though.

****

It was the spring of 1982. He had been asked if he would like to go to Camp Pendleton. It would be promotion to Sergeant. He could do parachute training and scuba training, get the certificates, and the insignia. He had asked Shannon to marry him. It would be a long way to see each other and yes he did love her. He asked her father. He had agreed. They married in St. Peters's Catholic Church, Parris Island. It was her birthday May 29th May 1982. He didn't take her faith but he would respect. Even after she had gone.

They moved, and almost 9months later Kelly was born. 16th August 1983. He was the happiest Sergeant in the camp. Her family had wondered if it had been a shotgun wedding. No it was just good fortune.

**Chapter 8a**

**1982-1991**

They settled into married quarters and Kelly was born. He was the happiest man alive. He went on to do the parachute course and then the scuba course. He got the insignia.

It was the spring of 1985. "Would you be prepared to go to Gaeta for a year? Would be promotion. Staff Sergeant."

He had asked Shannon. She hadn't been too keen, since Kelly was only 18months, but if it was to increase his prospects. The USS Coral Sea left Norfolk in October 1985 Mediterranean. On board was a Marine Unit and one newly appointed Staff Sergeant Gibbs. Shannon joined him in November. Their daughter 2yrs old. This was how he was to get his, Navy and Marine Corps Overseas Service Ribbon. He was even to see a bit of action off the Gulf of Sidra. In April 1986, the USS Saratoga, USS America and the USS Coral Sea were called into action. The Saratoga's aircraft had bombed Libya. The whole of the Mediterranean 6th fleet, and it's units were on war stand by. The French had denied the Americas flight over airspace from RAF Lakenheath, England. One of Saratoga's aircraft had narrowly missed the French Embassy in Tripoli. They had all laughed afterwards. Poetic justice they had said.

****

They returned home the autumn of 1986. Staff Sergeant Gibbs had learnt Italian. His daughter was growing. He was contented, but the thought of action was always on his mind. He got his wish late 1989. Operation Just Cause. But it would mean going back to Camp Lejeune. Shannon had put her foot down. "No. Kelly has just started school and I won't disrupt her education." He knew she was right. He went on detachment, just after the last Halloween he and Kelly would ever spend together, acting Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs. He had the necessary parachute and scuba skills. He had also learnt Spanish. He joined 2st Marine Division. The war was short 6weeks and it was over, 20th December 1989 to31st January 1990.

****

He returned to Camp Pendleton in February 1990, but it would not be for long. He got leave in August 1990 for Kelly's 7th birthday, and then it was out to Iraq. It was that dreaded day in the heat of the desert……

"Sorry Gunny, they're dead."

He went into battle that afternoon. His heart was dead, all he wanted was to die too. The explosion that followed would change his life forever.

****

**Chapter 9**

**1991-1992**

**The wilderness year**

It was a hard year for one Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs. He finally buried his family June father had come to the funeral with a "girl friend" how he still hated him. The Marines had been understanding. But they needed someone full time and focused. Become Reserve they had said. That way you can keep your hand in and if we need you………

He was needed, and went off to Columbia on a final mission for the Marines. But he was followed by a certain Special Agent Mike Franks. The operation had turned nasty. Gunnery Sergeant Gibbs was wounded, or was it another death wish. He had wanted to die. But fate would step in again. He was nursed back to health by a Rosa Tamayo. He had had, a brief affair with her. He had in his moments of mental torture, and spoken allowed. She knew his past and comforted him the best way she knew how.

He spoke to Mike Franks at the Field NIS office at Camp Pendleton. Mike accidentally on purpose, left the file on his desk. Gibbs got his revenge and he finally "Retired" so to speak, from the Marines although he would stay a reservist.

In June 1992 Mike Franks had suggested he join NIS, "We need someone of your calibre" He had nothing to loose. In August 1992 NIS became NCIS. He was a probie.

It was tough, everything, he saw round him was Shannon and Kelly. He need to get away. Mike persuaded him otherwise. It would be the start of a new beginning.

**Chapter 10**

**June 1992 - May 2008**

He wondered if what he was doing was right. Why should he join an organisation that had failed him. Maybe it was something he had to do. The good. He had to help those of families who had ended up like himself. He need to give them answers. Answers to questions they couldn't find. Give justice to the fallen. He had had, to get his own justice and revenge.

Franks was Special Agent in charge Camp Pendleton. He had joined Mike. Mike a hard drinking, ex-marine like himself. But he had seen combat in 'Nam. They got on OK. Well as well as two strong ex-marines could. He learnt. What was it Franks would say in years to come, when he had said Mike had taught him to be an Agent.

"Nah. I didn't teach. You observed." He also remembered how, he had mentioned "We investigated crime scenes." "I investigated crime scenes. You schlepped." Mike had replied laughing.

****

Gibbs began to think back over the years. How he had recruited DiNozzo. He had used the same techniques and discipline on Tony, as Mike had on him.

He remembered Mike saying "In 'Nam I packed twice what you're carrying through monsoon mud with Charlie shooting at my ass and still went faster than you!"

Oh yes he had learned well from Mike. He had taught many junior Agents over the years. He remembered those who had died. He remembered Jenny and all the others who had died for him.

But as he looked at the screen and his past, he saw the names appear, Caitlin, another Kate had died for him. A McGee, he had smiled at the name when he had discovered him. A Donald, from a place called Fife and Kellie Castle. His first wife, from Shannon, Ireland. He also saw how his ancestors mirrored himself or was he them?

He was a carpenter, so had Jamie and Donald. He had been a soldier, so had John. If you counted Jamie as a sailor, then the soldier and the sailor equals a Marine. He was all these people. They had been him, no he had become them. His roots. He had no-one to leave this too, but maybe just maybe……………………

He leant forward and typed into the computer

**Chapter 11**

**2008 - **

**?**

Saved and switched down. He sat back, placed his hands behind his head. Smiled the Gibbs smile. He knew where he came from, who he was and why. Maybe he would take that trip to Cape Breton and see Kates' grave and the rest.


End file.
